Welcome to Brazos Matters I'm Jay Socol.

And joining me is campus student content contributor and senior journalism major Victoria Taylor.

Hey, Victoria.

Hi.

How are you?

Doing great.

I'm glad you're back in the studio with me.

Me too.

Okay, so as a reminder, Victoria recently wrapped up her four year career on the Aggie swim team, and we've been working on a three part series of interviews that related to her getting her mind and her body ready for competition for all these four years, and also what the rest of us can learn from each of her specialty coaches.

So Victoria can refresh our memory about our topics and our guests for parts one and two.

So part one was with Ashley Jackson, who's a strength and conditioning coach, and she helps complement athletes outside of their sport with strength training.

And part two was with sports psychologist Lauren Craig, who helps with the mind part of the difficulty of athletics.

Yeah, they were great.

Super insightful, I thought.

And if you missed those interviews, you can just browse the Brazos Matters archives on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform, or even the KAMU website.

So today's part three is about what?

So today we're talking about the nutrition side of sports and kind of what's recommended, nutrition wise, to fueling athletes bodies.

And while they're exercising at a pretty intense level.

And whether you're a D1 athlete or someone who's just getting into working out, it's important to learn about nutrition.

How challenging was the whole nutrition side of things for you?

Coming in to college, I definitely didn't know a lot of the information that's been provided by our nutritionist now, so it's definitely hard to figure out what you should be eating before you train and after you train, and just throughout the whole day.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, let's introduce our guest.

Maggie Hostetter is a performance dietitian for Texas A&M Athletics.

For several teams, including the swim team.

And like with our previous guests.

I'm eager to learn how Maggie does what she does, and how her nutritional experience can help the rest of us.

So, Victoria, take it away.

First.

Hey, Maggie.

Hey, Victoria.

Could you just explain your background and kind of how you ended up at A&M?

Yeah, yeah.

And my background, I'm going to go, like I'm from North Carolina, so I'm not from Texas.

I got my degree at UNC Chapel Hill, actually an exercise, sports science.

And then I did a master's in nutrition and dietetics.

And then getting into nutrition, though that was my, athletic background as well.

So I was a swimmer.

So I have a warm place in my heart for working with the swim team here.

So that was something that nutrition played a huge role in my success.

Just even as, like a high school athlete, right?

Like, there's not there was not a lot of conversation around nutrition.

So something that really sparked my interest in how it impacted me.

And so through personal experience and through just kind of like talking to other people in high school, I decided I'm going to be a sports dietitian.

Which, mind you, at that time, not many people knew what that was, especially where I was from.

So I pursued that, at Chapel Hill.

And then as soon as I got there, I was a swimmer.

So I was really ready to get involved.

And I started my, journey in sports nutrition, working with UNC football nutrition.

And I did that for four years.

So one thing that I really love about that and knew that nutrition was for me and college athletics setting it was that, you know, you're on a team UNC It feels like you're a part of something.

You're directly impacting and helping people feel, for sport.

Okay.

And how did you kind of end up at A&M?

Yes.

So, you know, after I, you know, became a dietitian and all of that, I knew that sports was for me, but I wanted to also get education and eating disorders.

So before A&M, I was actually living in Baltimore, Maryland, working at a clinic for eating disorders to make sure I was trained and was able to apply that to my future roles like this one.

And so when that timing kind of came up where I was like, I feel pretty ready to jump back into sports.

The A&M posting was perfect timing.

I wanted to challenge myself to go to an SEC school because all of my prior sports experience was in ACC being like from the eastern coast.

And I knew that A&M was a place that, you know, really.

And it felt like it, you know, throughout the interview process, like really invested in nutrition.

And so I think as an athletic department that varies from school to school drastically.

So I was very, very excited, to come here kind of like feeling that support.

And since I've been here, it's been amazing.

It's definitely a lot of support from the athletic department with nutrition.

Yes, I definitely noticed that.

And so just knowing you as an athlete, I see how that sparked your interest in sports nutrition.

What's kind of surprised you about this specific career?

Yeah, I think that, you know, in high school and I'm like, I'm going to be a sports dietitian.

I had no idea what that looks like.

And that looks very different.

You know, depending on the setting, whether you're in collegiate, professional, private practice, all of those things.

But I think in my, you know, current role and just, you know, when I got involved in collegiate sports nutrition, I think it's surprising to me, you know, high school me would be like, wow, you're wearing a lot more hats than I thought you would be.

Like, I thought we'd just be, like, talking about, you know, food in an office like that doesn't necessarily look like that in sports, which is also like the appeal.

You don't do the same thing every day.

So whether you're, you know, out of practice or you're, you know, it just depends on each sport too.

Or you're coordinating travel or you're, you know, helping, you know, students, you know, like, stock a fridge like that can happen sometimes, right?

Or you are doing the individual counseling or group counseling.

So I think it's the appeal.

And it was probably, you know, might not be known by everybody of like what the typical day looks like because they all look different.

Yeah.

That is exactly what's on my mind is what is the typical day look like for you in, in particular sports season?

Yeah.

So, you know, in my position I have several sports that are, oh, they all are operating at the same time, whether they're in-season or out of season, out of season training also is super important to these teams.

So my typical day does look different every day.

So the fall I kind of have like different sections.

The fall is going to look different than the spring, into the summer.

So the fall, typical day, you know, my main priorities are going to be swim and dive and then volleyball.

I also have men's tennis as well.

And so they're kind of in their off season.

They're on the road individually a little bit more.

So a lot of times the fall looks like, you know, going to practices or volleyball or going to, you know, swim.

You know, post practice type of stuff or a lot of it is an operational thing, too.

When you have so many teams that you kind of have to zoom out of, like, how do I also make it successful of all the things I want implemented to run operationally and may not be three places at one time?

So it could be checking in on student workers that we have that help us be successful with like food prep or vitamin prep and all of that as well.

So that wasn't a great answer.

Because it's kind of hard to run through a typical day, but then it's, you know, one thing I do do every day is I go back and forth from my office to where my teams are at.

So West Campus, versus where my office is actually in college, or.

Sorry.

Right at Kyle Field.

So where the dining facility is, where my office is, and then going to where, like, my teams are actually operating, you know, at practice or lift.

So kind of going back and forth to support them there and then also be able to still counsel and get some work done in my office.

But are you somebody who's walking around and your your athletes are like, oh, here comes Maggie.

I better put this thing back or not pick up, that particular food item from the options or, you know what?

What is your.

Yeah.

What is your involvement?

Day to day and meal to meal with these athletes?

Yeah.

My hope is that that's not what they feel when I come by.

A lot of the times the in we might get into this more later, but the issue is that we're not necessarily, like, consistent enough or we're not even eating enough.

So a lot of times when I come by, I'm like, is that all we're doing?

Like, I know what you have going on today, like that type of thing.

And like if it is something that we see a consistent trend with certain individuals of like, hey, like how do we navigate these food choices?

Because we have such an abundance in our dining facility, and like helping guide them.

But some of my athletes joke, they're like, no, don't look.

But I'm like, that is not that's not me.

I'm going to be there to support you and be like, what can we add?

Versus, you know, what can we take away all the time?

Because it definitely might feel a type of way if that was said in the moment.

Yeah.

And I think you do a really good job.

Like we're kind of more whenever you come around we it clicks in our mind like we need to be doing this right.

Because everything, every piece of information you give us, we're like, that is going to help our performance.

So it's like, oh, Maggie's here.

We got to hydrate.

We got to fuel ourselves before practice.

And I mean, you stalk all the nutrition rooms with snacks that are like, good for us to be eating and using before training.

A lot of times, the options hopefully that you're provided, whether it's on the road or, you know, in our dining facility or in your spaces, like hopefully all the options do fit somewhere.

And really it is to support and just being there sometimes is the reminder of like we can have conversation after conversation, but it is doing it.

And just like that presence of like a reminder of like, hey, like, you know, it's going through Maggie's brain, so maybe you shouldn't think about it.

So do you assess each individual athlete like if if you, become introduced to Victoria as a member of the swim team, do you do an assessment of her to get a baseline and figure out where to go from there?

Yes.

So any like for example, like it's going to look two different ways.

One, when I first came in because I first came into this role actually last May.

So it's almost been a full year.

That was me, assessing all of my athletes, you know.

Oh, not at the same time.

But, you know, I randomly, you know, not randomly, but I got, you know, 70 athletes or 80 athletes that I was like, I need to assess them in my own way.

Right?

Because there wasn't necessarily, like, a dietitian in place that had a big pulse on all of these teams.

Right?

So I think this past year, that was a goal at the very beginning to make sure I met one on one with all my athletes, because I just want them to know who I am versus like, you know, me randomly appearing.

Right.

So I think that individual level is really important.

But any time we get, you know, whether it's a transfer or a freshman, come in.

Yes, that's a part of the physicals that we do.

Actually, they have to meet with me.

It's like a quick introduction.

And then we do a scheduled meeting that's in my office.

So we go through a whole assessment.

So it's a little longer of a meeting.

And then if we want to keep meeting or how that looks like, it's just different per athlete.

Okay.

And kind of when you're having these individual meetings, have you noticed any trend of like they don't really know how to fuel themselves correctly?

Or do you think a good amount of athletes already coming in know what to do?

Yeah, I think that the incoming and the people that have been here for a while, like there's two different strategies you kind of have to go about because people coming in a lot of times are so young and eager and they they listen to you normally more.

And so they're like, what can I do?

Like and sometimes it's like, first we get acclimated to college for like a second and then we can do all of these things.

So there's that.

And then people that have been here many years like that, I never would I never assume like, oh, your nutrition is great.

It's perfect.

Because even if they met with a dietitian, like, it doesn't mean that they're doing that.

It doesn't mean that they're consistent with it.

So I think both there's a big need, especially if we've been here for three years and we're still doing the same thing that's leading us not necessarily to the best path.

Right?

Yeah.

So whether you're, an athlete or just a regular, person, what are some common, misconceptions or mistakes that you noticed that people make with their nutrition?

Yeah, that's a really good question.

I think my biggest, too, and it can be applied to athletics and, general population would be, well, one social media definitely can impact this, right.

So like these are the two I have.

Like I can narrow it down to there are random things I'm asked every day that I'm like, I know you saw this from a TikTok and I'm glad you're asking me.

And so the the first one is going to be that, you know, I need to eat less calories to achieve whatever goal that I'm going for, whether it's I want to be faster, stronger, I want to have more muscle.

I want to lose fat, like all of those things.

Like a lot of times the the common IT like recommendation or maybe just misconception that people go off of is like less is more like I need to have less and that a lot of times can inadvertently slow your metabolism down and make everything much harder.

And, you know, especially in an athletic population, it always does more harm than good and can kind of lead to other risk factors like injuries and stuff like that.

But the other one is going to be that a supplement can fix a poor nutrition.

So that is never going to be the case.

I always say if we don't have that foundation of sleep, hydration, nutrition, a supplement is just a waste of money.

So that's a big one too, especially because the supplement industry is very convincing and very unregulated.

Correct.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

We talk about that a lot in sports because actually at the NCAA level, there's a whole other type of standard there help too.

So I get to say no a lot to supplements.

That's good.

I'm glad you're there to do that.

Yeah.

Let me reintroduce you if you're just tuning in I'm Jay Socol and our guest today is Maggie Hostetter, performance dietitian for Texas A&M Athletics.

We're talking about how her work helps athletes and what the rest of us can learn from that.

Okay, next.

So obviously you work with volleyball, swim and men's tennis.

How do you kind of change the nutrition approach from each team?

If you have different?

Yeah, yeah, I think the nutrition approach between male and female can be different.

Some time I can be like, you know, team based sports ever is more individualized.

Still a team.

But you know what I mean, that type of stuff.

But I think the main thing is that the, the content a lot of times stays similar.

Right?

Like I'm not going to reinvent the wheel and have all these different, you know, recommendations per sport.

Yes.

The amount that you might need if we get into the specifics changes per sport because that's different training loads different, you know, training schedules.

But the context is going to change more.

So like how am I motivating you and applying this to your sport.

Right.

So I'm going to talk to a volleyball player about jumping higher and more force and stuff like that.

Versus, you know, maybe in swimming we're not talking about jumping higher as much, but like how we feel in the water, how we're recovering and like how we're getting through like these long aerobic practices and stuff like that.

So I think at the end of the day, it's, you know, some of the basics and foundations are staying the same, but it's more of like, how do we talk to them that relates to them.

Right.

Okay.

And then training load is going to be a huge thing too.

So like everyone's practice schedule is different.

And I know I tell swimming dive all the time, that are, you know, training schedule is more rigorous than some other teams.

And so it is more challenging.

We have to be more on top of our everyone needs to be on top of their nutrition.

But knowing that like the demands of our sport are not slowing down, right?

So we have to be on top of it.

Yeah.

And throughout the season, obviously we're competing more or where we are on an off season.

How do you kind of approach nutrition throughout an athletic season?

Yeah, I think if we're looking at like a whole calendar year or like a competition season, I know for swimming, like they have one of the longest seasons.

Right?

Because like, it truthfully starts, you know, in August and all of that.

But if we're looking at other sports like volleyball, they have a very clear, you know, season in the fall and then they have a spring season.

And like those two like seasons, like different, my involvement might look different.

But I'm never going to say like, say we're in the middle of competition season for swimming or for volleyball.

It's never a good time to completely change something.

Right?

And so those changes and anything drastic I'm always going to say like, hey, we don't need to, maybe we were going to wait until an off season to, you know, try going vegetarian for one day.

Like, I don't ever want anyone to really just experiment with that in the middle of the season.

But, you know, again, going back to training load like that might look different.

Especially for swimming.

It's a long season.

The training, loads are going to look different.

And how we, you know, bring awareness into that of our nutrition does have to match it.

So I think that's huge conversation of when we're training more when the intensity is higher.

We have to, you know, be mindful.

And it's a good reminder that, you know, I can give if like our nutrition does have to match that.

And that's like one of the biggest things in athletics is, you know, say two months goes by and we don't realize, oh my gosh, I'm training harder than I ever have and I haven't changed my nutrition.

There's going to be something that's flagging that we are kind of figuring out nutrition, stop matching training.

So for non D1 athletes we have become a society that is obsessed with protein.

And you kind of hinted at this a little bit ago about social media least.

It's in part because we're bombarded with ads and, self-proclaimed experts on Instagram.

So what is enough protein.

What is what is too much?

Is there a form of it that we should be avoiding?

What are your thoughts about that?

Yeah, I think that there is such a thing.

Is not enough protein and too much protein.

Right.

Our body can only absorb so much.

So whenever we want to put protein in everything, normally that's taking away from something else we do need.

So I think that sometimes the messaging, especially on like the social media scale like that just gets taken out of proportion, if that makes sense.

Like there is definitely a population of people that are not eating enough protein.

And so we'll only add protein into some of these more like simple carbohydrate things.

I'm thinking of cereal.

Right.

You know, that might be helpful for that population to get a couple more grams of protein.

It's not much.

It's just that they can put it on the box, right, that it says proteins, that people buy it.

But, that might be helpful.

But again, like I think then it kind of makes it an extreme of like, we might be taking away from other essential macronutrients like carbohydrates.

Definitely.

And also fats.

Right.

So I think that if I'm going to give a general rule of thumb, for like the general population, the typical standard is that we go per kilogram.

But I can kind of do like it's easier to do it kind of more in pounds, which is society.

Yeah.

So I would go like in this is for like the general population.

A lot of times we hear like one gram of protein per body weight and like sometimes like for the general population, that's actually a bit much, right?

Like that could be 180g of protein for someone in that might not be feasible with just like their day to day.

Right.

So like I typically I'm going to say like point five maybe of to and it's a range point 5 to 1.

Right.

So like it depends on how active, how much you're tearing down your muscles.

Do you have higher protein needs for other types of like existing medical conditions and stuff like that?

But for an athlete, typically, you know, we are tearing down the muscles more.

Right?

And so we do want to make sure we have that emphasis for of protein for the rebuilding and repairing from the workout.

I think you asked me about the types that we would stay away from.

Yeah.

I wonder if if all forms of protein are equal or.

No.

Yeah.

I think all forms of protein can fit.

I think that there are going to be, types where you think about like plant based proteins, right?

Like they're not as well absorbed as our animal based proteins.

And that doesn't mean that we can't get the same quality from them, but it's more of just the absorption.

And you know, what that's being used for.

And so which I could go down a whole scientific rabbit hole with that, but I'll save that.

But then, you know, I think we have resources, right?

If we have, like, protein powders and all of that, like, I always like to go from, like a food first standpoint of, like, if you can get it from food.

Yes.

That's great.

And then also, especially in, you know, the athletic population of we might not have time to go eat a chicken breast right after lift.

Right.

We might need to have a protein shake.

So I think making sure we're utilizing, you know, the supplements and the the protein shakes like in the time that they're like a minute for versus in place of our meals and stuff like that.

Okay.

So talking about protein shakes, I obviously heard a lot about making sure we have electrolytes, protein shakes, even cherry juice.

Can you kind of explain how this is beneficial for athletes and then also what anyone else could be eating for like ingredient wise based on the day to day just trying to stay healthy.

Yeah.

I'll speak more first on like the types of products that we're using and kind of lean on to help be successful in the day to day.

Like, we all have really busy schedules.

Our student athletes have really busy schedules.

So we do have these sports products that are made to kind of quickly help us recover and kind of hit that marker in a more concentrated form, right in.

So in all of the places that any athlete, any athlete at A&M is working out, we have all of the recovery and the pre fuel type of stuff.

So whether that is in a weight room, no matter what sport you have, you have those items right there for like recovery and all of that.

And as well as like, you know, swim and dive has their own fueling station.

We call them fueling stations.

And they're in every single sport that we, you know, support is performance, nutrition.

And so those items are there as resources to allow you to hit what I call the recovery window.

Right?

I talk about the recovery window a lot with my athletes.

And it's something that if you don't have time to go over and get a meal right after your workout, then we need to make sure we're recovering with the protein and then also with a carbohydrate source to help replenish the stores that we've depleted in our workout.

And so those things right there, that might be the protein shake, right?

As well as the cherry juice that is used for and I, I always want to be like Victoria, what is that used for.

Because you shouldn't that too, right.

Yeah.

I mean I, I feel like it has different purposes.

Like it also helps sleep.

Yes.

Yes.

So yeah, it's it's very helpful with like an anti-inflammatory approach.

Right.

So tart cherries have like it's a concentrated amount of those.

So post swimming right.

Our bodies and our muscles are a little bit more inflamed.

So it helps us recover right.

Helps lower soreness.

Also if we time it at night it has natural melatonin.

So it helps with sleep in recovery during sleep too.

And then electrolytes are definitely something that our athletes are working out maybe 2 or 3 times a day.

Right.

And every single person has a different amount of salt.

They're losing in a different amount of electrolytes.

They're losing.

So those allow them to rehydrate a little bit faster to be able to go into their next workout or just recover a little bit better.

Especially in Texas, it's important when it gets to be the summer, like even walking around to class and like, y'all need to have water and electrolytes.

Okay.

This question, I'm going to, toss it, both of you.

Okay.

So, I'm going to give you time to think about this.

Maggie, what is your guilty pleasure in terms of food?

Because you've been on a pretty strict regimen.

But I know every once in a while you got to cut loose.

Like, what is your go to guilty pleasure?

I was, or.

I mean, I still I'm, like, obsessed with the Little Debbie honey buns and zebra cakes.

Because that goes back to when you were a kid.

Yes.

Like, ever since I was a kid.

And also the hostess.

Powdered mini donuts.

I was obsessed with those.

And like, over Christmas break, when we're kind of dying and we have our, like, some money we can spend that the school gives us because we're here without the dining hall open that like I would use on my money on, the sweets just is like an end of the day, you know, I made it through this training.

Yeah.

Does this just make you cringe to hear this?

It doesn't make me cry.

It makes it.

I'm not surprised.

And, because it is money that, like, it gives them a little bit more autonomy and sometimes, like, if that is what's getting you mentally through the day, I need you to show up tomorrow.

So as long as that's not in place of other things.

Yeah.

Okay.

Performance dietitian, what is your guilty pleasure?

Yeah, I think mine is definitely going to be.

Since I was a kid, I've had a sweet tooth.

And so, like, it's not just any sweet, though.

It's like a good, like, high quality sweets that just I can't say no to.

So that's, you know, cake brownies, whatever.

Like and again, it's not something I'm doing all the time.

Right.

But it's something that if there's dessert, I'm not normally being like I'm okay.

Like I'm like, I'm going to try it just because, like that's something that like, it's my guilty pleasure.

It's something that like, I definitely hope my sweet tooth dies down.

Yeah, as I get older.

But when you're cruising down the aisle of the convenience store and Victoria's drawn to the honey buns, what are you drawn to?

Yeah.

I'm trying to think probably something that, like, I again, like good and bad, is not something that I definitely want to say around food, but I think it's the diet doctor peppers for me.

Yeah.

I think it's the, like, the mini, bottles of, like, the Diet Cokes or Diet Doctor peppers, right.

And stuff like that.

Okay.

Yeah.

I'm not I'm not a big snacker that I'm, like, craving like a snack of some sort.

So, I mean, snacks are important.

I tell everyone that I do eat snacks, but not necessarily like a grocery store type snack.

I'm just delighted to hear that you're human.

Yeah.

In this regard, I would share mine, but I don't have any, so I'm perfect in, diet.

I'm just fine.

I'm just judging you, too.

Maggie Hostetter, thank you so much for joining us.

This was a really fascinating conversation.

Yeah.

Thank you for having me.

I really appreciate it.

And, of course, I'm glad you came.

Yes.

Thank you.

Victoria Brazos Matters is a production of Aggieland's Public Radio, 90.9 KAMU-FM, a member of Texas A&M University's Division of Community Engagement I show, was engineered and edited by Matt Dittman.

For Victoria Taylor.

I am Jay Socol.

Thank you so much for watching and for listening, and I hope you have a great day.